Multi-Letter Phonograms

In addition to the 26 single-letter phonograms, English has 48 basic multiletter phonograms for a total of 74. Multi-letter phonograms are fixed
combinations of letters that symbolize one or more speech sounds. They may
have two, three, or four letters and are called digraphs, trigraphs, and
quadgraphs. It is these phonograms that are most commonly left out of
incomplete phonics programs.
Many schools do teach what they believe to be phonics. They teach most
of the sounds for AZ and sometimes even a few multi-letter phonograms
such as sh , ch , and th . This level of teaching often misleads students
into believing that they have been given the complete picture and there is
nothing left to figure out. Many students also wrongly assume that phonics
must have made more sense to others. Incomplete phonics leaves a lot of
holes, discouraged hearts, confused minds, and a seemingly unlimited
number of exceptions.
For example, children who are not taught that igh is three-letter //
will often carefully sound out each letter in light (/l--g-h-t/) and feel utterly
mystified when you suddenly announce, That says /l--t/. Simply teaching
igh says // will give students the tool to correctly decode the word.
I was taught that ch says /ch/. Until a few years ago, I had never
realized that it actually says three sounds, /ch-k-sh/. The word school was
always a complete mystery to me, not to mention Christmas. French words
such as chef, machine, and crochet were at first difficult to read and later
difficult to spell. Simply knowing all three sounds provided clarity where
confusion had reigned.
Many educators mistakenly believe that good readers read whole words
rather than reading phonetically. The prevailing thought is that readers who
sound out words are slow, and that fast readers have actually developed
instant recognition of the whole word. This is some of the theory behind the
Dolch List, a commonly used list of 250 sight words.
However, recent research using functional MRI has shown that good
readers are actually processing the sounds one at time, even though they
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perceive it as a whole word.1 It is just that the brain is so fast, it appears

they are reading whole words. In reality, though, they are converting the
letters on the page to sounds.
These studies have shown that the brain learns to read the same way it
learns to talkone sound at a time. Once students get the hang of reading the
sounds, they speed up until it appears to be instantaneous. As one researcher
concluded, The use of intensive phonics is the only way to teach dyslexics
and learning disabled individuals how to read and is the best way for
everyone to learn to read.2
This type of research further demonstrates the importance of teaching the
74 basic phonograms to all English speakers. The 74 basic phonograms are
the most essential because they are the ones needed to spell the most
frequently used words in English. They explain 98% of English words and
are vital building blocks. The 74 basic phonograms should be taught
thoroughly and systematically to all students from the beginning. They
should not be reserved only for struggling students who make it to
specialized reading centers.
Learning the 74 basic phonograms is the true foundation for literacy and
spelling. Mastering the phonograms only occurs with regular practice over
time. Just as students need to memorize math facts like 1+1=2, these
phonograms need to be memorized as well. There are plenty of games and
methods to contextualize this kind of drill and make it interesting, fun, and
effective.
For more ideas on how to teach the phonograms, see The Phonogram
and Spelling Game Book.
Table 2: Multi-Letter Phonogram Sounds
Sound

Sample Words

ai

//

laid

ar

/r/

car

au

//

author

augh

/-f/

taught

laugh

33

aw

//

saw

ay

//

play

bu

/b/

buy

ch

/ch-k-sh/

child

cei

/s/

receive

ci

/sh/

spacious

ck

/k/

back

dge

/j/

edge

ea

/--/

eat

ear

/er/

search

ed

/d-d-t/

traded

ee

//

tree

ei

/--/

eigh

school

chef

bread

steak

pulled

picked

their

protein

feisty

/-/

eight

height

er

/er/

her

ew

/oo-/

flew

few

ey

/-/

they

key

gn

/n/

sign

gu

/g-gw/

guide

ie

//

field

igh

//

night

ir

/er/

bird

kn

/n/

know

ng

/ng/

sing

oa

//

coat

oe

/-oo/

toe

oi

/oi/

boil

oo

/oo--/

food

or

/or/

lord

language

shoe

took

34

floor

ou

/ow--oo-/

house

soul

group

ough

/--oo-

thought

though

through

ow-ff-ff/

bough

rough

trough

ow

/ow-/

plow

snow

oy

/oi/

boy

ph

/f/

phone

sh

/sh/

she

si

/sh-zh/

session

tch

/ch/

butcher

th

/th-TH/

thin

ti

/sh/

partial

ui

/oo/

fruit

ur

/er/

hurts

wh

/wh/

whisper

wor

/wer/

worm

wr

/r/

write

division

this

35

country